Early Season Surprises

USC Trojans: After starting the season 2-4, the Trojans have reeled off six straight wins, four of them with transfer Mike Gerrity running the show. Three of the four wins Gerrity has been a part of: 77-55 over Tennessee, 60-49 over St. Mary's, and a 67-56 win over UNLV on Christmas Day. USC has done it with defense, allowing just 50 ppg and 34% shooting from the field over the six win. No team out west in playing as well as the Trojans right now. Could this team win the Pac-10?


Wichita State Shockers and Missouri State Bears: In the preseason, just about everyone pegged Northern Iowa as the favorite in the MVC. In fact, neither the Shockers or the Bears were voted into the top four of the MVC preseason poll, but both could very well give the Panthers a run in a competitive Valley this season. Wichita State is 11-1 on the year, with their lone loss coming to Pitt, while Missouri State is 10-1 coming off of a loss at Arkansas. While neither team has much of a resume at this point, Missouri State has beaten Tulsa while Wichita State notched a win over Texas Tech a week and a half ago.


Syracuse: The rise of the Orange has been well documented this season. They began the year with blow out wins over UNC and Cal in NYC during the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament, notched wins over Cornell and Florida, and now head into Big East play at 12-0 on the season. All this after the Orange lost to Le Moyne, a DII team, in their last preseason game and coming off of an off-season where Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf, and Paul Harris all jumped ship and went pro. I doubt that even the most die-hard, disillusioned Syracuse fan could have hoped for this good of a start to the season.


William & Mary: The Tribe lost their first two games of the season, but they have bounced back nicely, winning eight in a row. They haven't just beaten cupcakes either; that eight game winning streak includes victories over Richmond and VCU, at Wake Forest, and best of all, they beat my alma mater Vassar College. The two losses to start the season aren't too shabby either - they lost road dates with UConn (by nine) and Harvard (in triple overtime on a half court prayer). The CAA looks to be pretty good this season, and William & Mary may very well be the best team in the league.


New Mexico: The Lobos are now 12-1 are losing on the road to a tough Oral Roberts team, but that shouldn't diminish how good New Mexico's start to the season has been. The Lobos won their first 12 games, which included wins over Texas A&M, Cal, and Creighton, while climbing to 12th in the polls. The combination of Darington Hobson and Roman Martinez up front is one of the best out west.


UAB: The Blazers have bounced back nicely from an early season loss to Kent State. They've won 10 straight games, which includes impressive victories over Cincinnati and Butler. UAB's best player early in the season has been Elijan Millsaps, a 6'6" guard nearly averaging a double double (15.4 ppg, 9.8 rpg). C-USA is wide open this season, with UTEP, Tulsa, and Houston all being mentioned as possible successors to Memphis. But thus far in the season, the Blazers may be the favorite to win the league.


Temple: The Owls returned to the top 25 for the first time since 2001 after beating both Villanova and Seton Hall, who were at the time undefeated. Temple has two losses on the season- a one point setback in DC to Georgetown and a seven point loss to St. John's. The Owls have done it with defense, holding their opponents to 37.3% shooting from the field and 23.9% shooting from deep.


St. John's: St. John's basketball has fallen far from their glory days, but Norm Roberts has led the Johnnies to a bit of a resurgence this season. The Red Storm is sitting at 10-2 on the season, with their only losses coming to Duke and Cornell while having beaten Temple, Siena, and Georgia already this season. DJ Kennedy (16.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.3 apg) is playing as well as anyone in the conference, and Dwight Hardy has caught fire in the last couple of week, averaging 17.3 ppg in the last three games. The most impressive part: St. John's is still waiting for Justin Burrell and Anthony Mason, Jr., to get healthy.


Kevin Jones, West Virginia: West Virginia has started the season out 10-0, and the biggest reason may be Jones. The athletic, 6'8" forward has averaged 15.5 ppg and 8.1 rpg while shooting 10-29 from three. West Virginia bases their team around stingy defense and aggression on the offensive glass, and Jones is perfect for that system.


Jacob Pullen, Kansas State: The Wildcats have shot up the rankings the last few weeks, and the biggest reason for that has been Pullen. In KSU's 11-1 start, Pullen is averaging 20.0 ppg and 3.5 apg while shooting 43.6% from deep. KSU has had some impressive wins this year, beating Dayton, Washington State, Xavier, UNLV, and Alabama. In those five games, Pullen averaged 24.2 ppg. He looks to be the early season favorite for Big XII player of the year.


Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame: Many people wrote Notre Dame off this season after Scott Martin tore his acl, but Abromaitis has more than filled that void. Abromaitis is averaging 15.8 ppg while shooting a ridiculous 50.7% from beyond the arc. His emergence alongside Luke Harangody as a second scoring option has been a big reason the Fighting Irish have a shot at reaching the dance this season.


Quincy Pondexter, Washington: Pondexter was a top 50 player coming out of high school, but was overshadowed by the likes of Jon Brockman and Isaiah Thomas during his first three seasons. But this year, it has been Pondexter's team. Pondexter has averaged 21.9 ppg and 8.7 rpg, and is one of the bright spots for a Washington team still not playing up to its potential.


Ekpe Udoh, Baylor: Udoh had two mediocre seasons playing in Ann Arbor before deciding to transfer to Baylor. After sitting out a season, Udoh has had a phenomenal start to the '09-'10 season, especially on the offensive end. His scoring (14.6 from 6.0), rebounding (9.8 from 5.0), and assist (2.8 from 0.9) numbers have all made marked improvements, while he is also averaging 3.9 bpg and shooting 60.2% from the floor.


Antonio Pena, Villanova: The biggest question mark for Villanova coming into the season was how they would fill the void Dante Cunningham left inside, which became a much bigger issue when Mouph Yarou was diagnosed with Hepatitis. But Pena has done his best to answer those questions, averaging 13.1 ppg and 8.9 rpg thus far in the season.